Tap your way (on yourself, not with shoes) to releasing your negative emotions. Identify your own personal prime meridian and heal yourself. This demonstration is part of Down Time. Inspired by do-it-yourself culture and the wealth of how-to resources on the internet, Down Time is an eight-week presentation that explores free-choice learning and the pursuit of entertainment in our “down” time.

While working on a project in the Henry’s conference room, I noticed a selection of textured floral prints I’d never really paid much attention to. After a closer look I found that they were not prints at all, but a series of intricately carved Japanese Katagami stencils made from mulberry paper and cured with persimmon juice. I thought I ‘d recognized them from the Henry’s online catalog and quickly ran up stairs to visit the DIG Kiosk to find out more information. After noodling around for a while I realized that these stencils represented only a small portion of the 198 Katagami works in the Henry’s permanent collection – yikes.

After reading a little more about these 19th century stencils I started thinking about how many items in our collection we don’t often see. Though its impossible to have all works out on view all the time, it is possible to make these collections available by other means. The Henry has made their collections available for research or general public interest by providing in-house and online public access though the Reed Collection Study Center, new online catalog, and in-house Digital Information Gallery (DIG). These resources allow students and the general public to more fully explore collections for personal or professional research. Though resources online offer general information, DIG provides access to images and data for over 24,000 objects in the collection and can help make better use of the Reed Collection Study Center. So have at it – research, explore, expand.

On a rainy Friday night, December 9th, 1988, Scarecrow’s founder, George Latsios, rang through 18 rentals in seven transactions, from his inventory of just over 600 movies. “Not bad for the first day” he wrote.

Scarecrow is home to about 900,000DVD, VHS, Laser Disc, HD-DVD and was at one time the only place in Seattle that I could rent John Waters’ Pink Flamingos. One of the great things about Scarecrow is the really awesome people there who genuinely love films.

Henry Members!At Scarecrow Video, Rent 1 film and receive a second of equal or lesser rental value FREE (when you present your current Henry Membership card) Limit 1 New Release. Not valid Wednesdays or in combination with any other offer. Not a Henry member? Join NOW!

Thank you to Scarecrow Video for being a Henry Art Gallery Merchant Partner! Looking forward to the next 20 years!

YouTube, the vast repository of online videos which focuses on the user-generated experience, is quickly becoming the place where anything, and everything, is up for interpretation. Founded in 2005, YouTube allows the viewer (You!) to make your own TV, to see what you want–when you want, and in many cases (for less than 10 minutes at a time) allows for you to be the star.

Henry Associate Curator Sara Krajewski conceived and organized the Henry Art Gallery Adaptation YouTube Challenge, inviting Henry staff members to curate a short playlist of videos – with the theme of adaptation. Each playlist is featured on the Henry Website with a brief curator’s statement, and an opportunity for all visitors to select an Adaptation YouTube Challenge Viewer’s Choice playlist. It’s also featured on the Henry Art Gallery YouTube (with a link on this blog!)

I can’t get myself together for a cohesive post until I have another coffee, but I’ve been wanting to put a few things out here:

I never posted these images of Vancouver artist Khan Lee’s AMAZING paper performance in the Instant Coffee installation at Bumbershoot. Never before had a roll of newsprint combined with a Donna Summer song brought so much joy to so many people. People were making piles and diving into them, creating caves and hiding out, tossing armfuls, dancing, and laughing so hard it hurt.

Thinking about these Kienholz posts (Carolyn, at Dangerous Chunky and Regina at Art-to-go) put our Exhibitions Manager Paul Cabarga into the way-back machine. He dropped a catalog in my chair this morning to let me know that the Henry DID commission the creation of a HUGE work by Ed and Nancy Kienholz for the 1985-86 exhibition NO! Contemporary American Dada. The piece entered the artists’ collection – where it remains. It’s been included in many exhibitions since its making, allowing museum visitors all over the world to see it. The catalog is lovely: out-of-print, but available from the library.

On that note, one thing I’ve repeatedly witnessed since I’ve been at the HAG is how well the Henry does everything within its means to support artists in the creation of new work, regardless of whether those works then enter the Henry’s permanent collection. Most recently, and off the top of my head, the Henry supported the making of new works by Maya Lin, James Turrell, Steve Roden, Santiago Cucullu, Akio Takamori, Lead Pencil Studio, Axel Lieber, neuroTransmitter, and Roy McMakin. In the next few months we’ll be working with Dawn Cerny and Kader Attia on new pieces. Kim Jones will be making sculptures in the museum next week.

Oh, yeah – and check this out: ArtsUW.org! I know it is completely bonkers that this hasn’t existed until now – but it didn’t, and now it does. One-stop-shopping for information and links about arts events that are open to the public on the UW campus. We’re there, so are the School of Music, the UW Dance Program, DX Arts, School of Art, UW World Series, Meany Hall, the Burke Museum, and the School of Drama. There’s a lot going on, too.

In 2005, the Henry was one of the 11 venues that hosted one of the works in The Trimpin Project; the installation Pfft (and its nearly 200 wind instruments) was here from July 2-October 2 This Friday, Trimpin will be on campus to give a lecture on his work beginning at 7 PM at Suzzallo Library. Reserved tickets are sold out, but a limited number of walk-ins will be allowed entrance at 6:30. If you can’t make the lecture, be sure to read Jen Graves’s “Found Objects to Sound Objects” piece on Trimpin in Art in America this month for an insightful analysis of the Trimpin Project and the interdisciplinary interplay of media and concepts within Trimpin’s work. Below is a brief video of Klompen, a coin-operated piece that was on view at the Frye from July 14, 2006-January 21, 2007.